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Donovan showed interest in Deja being in heat by her second heat and noticed at her first. He noticed her far more than when Elena was in. He noticed his mother. He was slow to mature in some areas, but not when it came to the desire to breed.

Watch the female closely and they must be separated for a good month just to be safe. If everyone in the household can not be diligent about this than best to get her spayed before she has her first heat. Living with a male and an in heat female is a pain in the neck.

Thanks for the heads up....guess each dog is different....I will watch him much closer....:-)

Donovan showed interest in Deja being in heat by her second heat and noticed at her first. He noticed her far more than when Elena was in. He noticed his mother. He was slow to mature in some areas, but not when it came to the desire to breed.

Watch the female closely and they must be separated for a good month just to be safe. If everyone in the household can not be diligent about this than best to get her spayed before she has her first heat. Living with a male and an in heat female is a pain in the neck.

Yes, don't get complacent about him not caring about her being in heat - that can change. It has more to do with his maturity level than the 1st or 2nd or 3rd heat of the female.

Some Working Lines come from lines that are known to mature slow - he may be three or four years old before he shows interest in a female in heat. So if he seems to not care about it right now, that could change.

Gryffon never showed interest in females in heat - I'd ask club members to bring their female out and we would go for leash walks, or train side-by-side just so I could check his reaction - nothing. No interest at all.

But then he turned three, and it was like a switch went on in his head, and if there is a female in heat around, his normal brain goes on vacation, and some other nutso brain takes over, so be aware that things may change with your dog from one day to the next.

Will definitely keep that in mind....we are really wanting her spayed sooner than later but we were considering 2-3....trying to decide after reading the pros and cons.....so many articles to spay and so many for reasons not to spay....I know for certain I can't keep them apart her entire life....just wanted her to be at a good age before spaying...I wish we had vets in the Carolinas that did sterilization without removing all of her reproductive organs...

Haha, so sorry, I mixed you up with the thread below! I blame it on the rain, lol. I've literally been cooped up for days, and get just as nuts as the dogs lol. Somehow I meshed both your stories together. Again, sorry for the tongue lashing.

As to your question about could the second heat effect him more. I know it was geared towards Lies, but I would answer yeah, only because he's more mature now, and with maturity comes hormones, etc...So don't expect it to go just as smoothly or to be a mess, just be aware that he may/probably act differently because he could be coming into his own maturity and take the heat cycle a little more seriously. As to how to handle it?? I have no experience there, hopefully Lies or some breeders that are used to dealing with it will chime in...seems like the consensus is to keep them separated.

My in-laws neighbor had brother/sister puppies. They didn't know the female was in heat and they bred before they got her spayed, and had nine puppies :-(. So I just think diligent separation is the key. I don't really have much else advice.

Wow.....guess all of us are enduring endless rain...second day in a row here....hard to keep pups mentally and physically exhausted trapped in doors.

We are hoping she will be ready to be spayed after her second and before her third heat....I really don't like the mess with the diapers and cloth covers....it is icky....will keep in mind about miles being more mature.....I guess I had it easy the first time with miles being so mellow....

I did not think about his temperament changing...is there a chance he will act differently the second heat?
He acted like himself the first time she went through her cycle....but I did not consider him acting differently the second time.

Yes, don't get complacent about him not caring about her being in heat - that can change. It has more to do with his maturity level than the 1st or 2nd or 3rd heat of the female.

Some Working Lines come from lines that are known to mature slow - he may be three or four years old before he shows interest in a female in heat. So if he seems to not care about it right now, that could change.

Gryffon never showed interest in females in heat - I'd ask club members to bring their female out and we would go for leash walks, or train side-by-side just so I could check his reaction - nothing. No interest at all.

But then he turned three, and it was like a switch went on in his head, and if there is a female in heat around, his normal brain goes on vacation, and some other nutso brain takes over, so be aware that things may change with your dog from one day to the next.

01-11-2014 08:54 PM

DaniFani

Haha, so sorry, I mixed you up with the thread below! I blame it on the rain, lol. I've literally been cooped up for days, and get just as nuts as the dogs lol. Somehow I meshed both your stories together. Again, sorry for the tongue lashing.

As to your question about could the second heat effect him more. I know it was geared towards Lies, but I would answer yeah, only because he's more mature now, and with maturity comes hormones, etc...So don't expect it to go just as smoothly or to be a mess, just be aware that he may/probably act differently because he could be coming into his own maturity and take the heat cycle a little more seriously. As to how to handle it?? I have no experience there, hopefully Lies or some breeders that are used to dealing with it will chime in...seems like the consensus is to keep them separated.

My in-laws neighbor had brother/sister puppies. They didn't know the female was in heat and they bred before they got her spayed, and had nine puppies :-(. So I just think diligent separation is the key. I don't really have much else advice.

Whoops! My bad, thought you were the one that said they were from police K9's. Must be thinking of someone else! So glad you've decided not to go the breeding route. But, I do hope you continue with training, SO much to get the dogs involved in some kind of sport or competitive obedience, regardless of genetics/pedigrees, etc! :-D

No worries.....:-) So many people, asking so many questions....can definitely understand the confusion!
I am just thankful people are kind enough to take the time to help others understand.

Oh...there is no way we could stop training! They love to work...if we miss one day of play/training due to rain...they are beside themselves! They would be destructive and not as enjoyable as they are....

How they react depends on the dogs, but it's best to be prepared for "worst case scenario". My male *definitely* notices an intact bitch in heat and is in "his" house, but when we had one here, he wasn't eating through the walls or anything like that. He acted more on edge while she was here (like he was ultra-protective of her, barked at people walking past, that sort of thing) but didn't make an extra effort to get to her. However, since she was here FOR breeding I also didn't make any extra effort to keep them apart. I had the male shut in one room and the female crated on a different floor of the house. I suppose if he had busted out somehow and they bred it wouldn't really have mattered since that's why she was here. If I had a female in heat that I did NOT want bred I'd probably be crating *both* dogs on separate floors or just taking one dog with me.

I did not think about his temperament changing...is there a chance he will act differently the second heat?
He acted like himself the first time she went through her cycle....but I did not consider him acting differently the second time...I just worried about keeping them each in desperate kennels, rooms and behind desperate closed doors. When we told Millie for walks and around the community, we had her wear the diaper and a cloth, cover over it. We also carried pepper spray incase any strays tried to get aggressive or were to pushy trying to get to her...